


have we met before?

by vendettadays



Category: Naruto
Genre: Angst with a Happy Ending, Character Death, Eventual Happy Ending, F/M, Not Epilogue Compliant, Post-Canon, Reincarnation, Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-22
Updated: 2020-08-22
Packaged: 2021-03-07 02:01:42
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,784
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26039122
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/vendettadays/pseuds/vendettadays
Summary: Gaara couldn’t pinpoint the moment he had started seeing Hinata beyond the gaze of one shinobi to another. Somehow and somewhere along the way, Hinata had slipped through his absolute defence.They had survived the war and he had thought they had all the time in the world. Until there wasn’t.
Relationships: Gaara/Hyuuga Hinata
Comments: 6
Kudos: 20





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> I know NaruHina is canon, I absolutely loved ‘The Last’ and the clip of their wedding was beautiful, but I wanted to explore a version of Hinata where she is not defined by her love for Naruto. Where it is okay for her love for Naruto to change, but still acknowledges the devotion she has for Naruto as an important person who helped her grow into the character she is. I don’t know if I quite did that here, since it ended being GaaHina and is entirely Gaara’s POV (maybe I’ll write Hinata character study one day).
> 
> This very much disregards everything from Chp. 699 onwards, but I hope those of you who read this enjoys it as much as I did writing it. And thank you for reading!
> 
> (inspired by this gif set on tumblr: [link](https://flyfromreality.tumblr.com/post/142645211038) )

It had been a trap from the very beginning and they had foolishly fallen for it.

Gaara forced his feet to move, hand pressing down hard on the wound on his side. He clenched his teeth and breathed through his nose as nausea swept through him in a dizzying spin. Blood seeped between his fingers, slick and warm and without any sign of stopping. A hand grabbed his free arm and shouldered his weight.

‘Come on, Gaara,’ grunted Hinata, shifting more of his weight onto her shoulder. She held onto his hip and coaxed him into a slow walk. ‘We need to keep going and regroup.’

Every step felt leaden, his legs sluggish and the gourd strapped to his back seemed heavier than usual. They moved slowly along the narrow mountain path, bodies pressed close to avoid the sheer ridge that with one misstep, both Hinata and him would tumble to their deaths.

‘They knew we were coming for them,’ mumbled Gaara. Sweat beaded at his hairline and ran down in rivulets down from his temple to his jaw. They had been on their way to rendezvous with Naruto and the Tsuchikage when the ambush had hit them, separating them from Sakura and Sai. ’Someone must have tipped them off.’

Hinata didn’t say anything, focused on scanning their surroundings with her byakugan. They were deep in the mountains of Iwagakure, following the trail of a group of missing-nins that rivalled even the Akastuki in their ambition. It didn’t matter that they had survived a war that had they lost, would have changed the very fabric of their world as they knew it, there were still people in the world that did bad things.

‘There’s a cave up ahead. We can stop there until—‘ Hinata cried out as the earth beneath their feet shook violently.

Without thought to the throbbing pain in the side, Gaara grabbed Hinata’s wrist and pushed himself into a run. The rocks cracked and rose with a mind of its own in sharp, jagged spikes intent on spearing them.

In a chakra-fulled jump, they leapt in unison, hands linking as they side-stepped off rising rock pillars and over gaping craters. Gaara could see the entrance to the cave up ahead, one more jump across a newly formed gap and they would make it. He willed chakra to the soles of his feet and with their hands still linked, they jumped over the two metre length. Gaara’s eyes widened, knee giving out as his foot touched the edge. His body pitched backwards into nothing. Instinctively, he let go of Hinata, only for her to hold on in a crushing grip. She fell to her knees, left hand gripping the edge, face scrunched up with the effort of keeping him from falling to his death. His body dangled precariously as Hinata’s arm shook with his weight. With a chest rumbling groan, Hinata gritted her teeth and pulled him back up.

Gaara’s heart raced. His chest heaved with every breath. He scrabbled quickly to his feet, wrapping his arm around Hinata’s waist and crawled and dragged them both into the cave. The crash of rock raining down filled his ears. Dust billowed in and he covered Hinata with his body as complete darkness enveloped him.

***

Gaara blinked slowly, his vision moved in and out of focus, tinged with a teal glow that made the air thrum with energy. Warmth radiated from the wound on his side, but he didn’t dare move his head. A hiss issued from his mouth at the needle, sharp pain of his muscles being stitched back together.

‘You’re awake.’

He could only groan in reply, breathing heavily to stave off the increasing nausea. As soon as the urge to empty his stomach became too much, the pain stopped and the ethereal glow of Hinata’s healing jutsu dimmed and faded.

In the darkness that pressed around them, slivers of light filtered through gaps in the fallen rocks. It was a weak illumination, but enough for Gaara to see Hinata’s exhausted expression, face smudged with dirt and navy hair dusty from the rockslide. He must have looked even worse. He raised his head, arms shaking as he gingerly pushed himself into a sitting position. Hinata hovered ready to catch him if his strength left him.

‘Thanks for not letting me die back there.’

A quiet giggle came from Hinata who shuffled and sat next to him, their backs resting against the cavern wall. ‘I couldn’t let the Kazekage fall to his death.’

‘Not quite how I imagined myself to go,’ muttered Gaara, falling back on morbid humour as a means to cope.

They sat in silence, taking the chance to breath and rest even if it was only for a moment. Their chakras were depleted, but the others would find them eventually. Hinata slumped next to him, resting her head against his shoulder in a gesture that sent warmth rushing to his chest at the familiarity it expressed. He carefully eased his right arm from where it was wedged between them and wrapped it around Hinata’s shoulders. His heart faltered when Hinata raised her head, but he breathed again when it was to readjust her position, so his arm fell more comfortably.

He couldn’t pinpoint the moment he had started seeing Hinata beyond the gaze of shinobi to another. Was it that time at the Sixth Hokage’s inauguration? When they had been the only two people at the edge of a crowded room, exchanging small talk and shy smiles. Was it during the one month shinobi exchange between Konoha and Suna? When they had passed each other on their way home, Gaara from the Kazekage offices, Hinata from the hospital, and she had invited him to share a late night dinner together.

Or had it been even further back than that? Back before the war had become a war. Back when he had first become Kazekage and visited Konoha, seeing Hinata truly for the first time and not as a vague memory from the Chūnin exams tinted with hate.

When had Hinata slipped past his absolute defence?

He looked down at Hinata as she looked up, and he was caught by the tenderness in her eyes.

Maybe it was the adrenaline still coursing through his veins or from the intensity of each pounding beat of his heart. Or it was entirely the look in Hinata’s eyes that gave him the courage to lean down and press his lips against Hinata’s in a hesitant kiss. Euphoria flooded through him as he felt Hinata kiss back, her body pushing upwards as shaking fingers threaded through his short hair.

Hinata broke the kiss abruptly, jarring Gaara from the moment and he leaned back, breaking all contact. She bit her bottom lip, each breath a furious in and out that moved her chest, but it was Hinata’s wide pale eyes that doused the hope in Gaara’s heart.

'I'm sorry, Gaara.' Hinata ducked her head. 'I shouldn't have, I --'

He reached across, desperate to offer comfort, but stopped short of touching Hinata's hand, unsure if his touch would be welcomed. The rejection stung worse than a blade against skin. What a fool he was for wanting something out of his reach. ’It's okay, you don't have to explain. I know about your feelings for Naruto and I shouldn't have put you in this position. That was shameful of me.'

A sigh came from Hinata and he felt callused hands cover his own. He looked up to see a deep frown cross Hinata's normally benign expression. 'I hadn't finished speaking.'

Despite the seriousness of the conversation, he gulped and nodded. 'Sorry, please.'

For a moment the confidence in Hinata's posture deflated, shoulders sagging and uncertainty bled back into her features, but she held on and Gaara waited. He would wait for as long as she needed.

'I have to figure some things out. I'm not ready right now for a relationship with… Anyone.’

The grip on his hand became crushing and he felt the hidden strength of the Gentle Fist dormant in Hinata’s hands. All Gaara could do was keep holding on, offering whatever comfort he could in the contact of their hands.

‘I love Naruto.’ Hinata’s voice was strong and certain in her conviction, but sadness covered Hinata like a blanket, and Gaara’s heart still stuttered at the declaration. ‘I’ve spent so many years watching him face down his demons. Naruto changed his path through sheer willpower alone and in my darkest times, he showed me the way forward and changed me without even knowing he had. I was so desperate to talk to him, walk beside him. I chased after him, but wanted to be better than him.

‘I had never stopped to examine what that actually meant. Then there was the war, fighting for everything we believed in. When it was finally over and peace was more than just a dream we had fought for, I hadn’t realised the world could be so quiet.’

Hinata kept her gaze on Gaara as if she was willing for him to understand. And he did. The change in their world had shaken Hinata, and Gaara understood that more than others. Naruto had changed the course of Gaara’s path in life with a headbutt to his forehead all those years ago.

For all the Five Kages’ talks of moving on from the war, only a year had passed since then. It was not nearly enough time to put to rest the monsters and demons or heal the wounds that were more than skin-deep, or to live with the decisions and trauma of saving the world in the way they had.

‘I guess what I am trying to say is that I need time. Time to understand what it means to be _me_ ,’ finished Hinata, tucking her navy hair behind her ear.

Gaara leaned back against the cavern wall. The rocks poked at the tender bruises on his back, but he was too exhausted to care as he digested Hinata’s words. He remembered every moment of the war, from the bone-deep aches to the screaming pulled muscles, and down to the taste of blood in his mouth. There had been times when every movement of his body had felt too heavy, his feet not quick enough, fingers not forming fast enough for a jutsu. But each time morale had sunk, each time the alliance wavered, each time another one of their own died, Naruto’s will alone had pulled them through.

The entire alliance had united and Naruto had held them together, time and time and time again.

They were where they were because of Naruto’s unshakeable faith in his friends. Gaara couldn’t deny that each one of them, from himself to Hinata had grown the way they had because of Naruto.

‘I don’t know why I said all that.’ Hinata looked away, a light blush dusted her pale cheeks and she started to withdraw her hand.

‘I’m sorry, I was thinking.’ Gaara held on, but loose enough for Hinata to let go if she really wanted to. ‘Thank you for telling me. It’s okay to feel different. Feelings change. It doesn’t make it any less valid.’

Relief seeped through Hinata and she released a deep breath. ’Thank you for understanding. Ask me another time?’

Gaara smiled and squeezed her hand, nodding even if he wasn’t sure she could see in the dimness of the cave.

They had all the time in the world and he would wait for the right time.

***

They should have been used to death by now.

Gaara bowed deeply to Hiashi Hyuga, far lower than was respectful for his position as the Kazekage. But there were no words that he could say, publicly, to express the devastation that coursed through him, or the tightness in his chest, or the pain that hadn’t let up since he saw Hinata fall to the ground. So he bowed, paid his respect to the Hyuga clan for their loss and left the Hyuga estate.

‘Are you okay?’ Temari watched him with a quizzically raised brow.

’I think I will go meet up with Naruto and the others. They’re gathering to remember… her.’

Not having answered her question, he hurried down the street, away from his sister. By the time he reached the inn, the sun had sunk behind the Hokage monument colouring the sky a striking purple-navy that reminded him of the exact colour of Hinata’s hair.

He entered the inn to a sombre atmosphere, suffocating him like a heavy cloth over his nose and mouth. Aburame nodded at him as he sat down at a table in the corner. The innkeeper placed a ceramic flask of sake and a cup in front of him and left without another word. He poured the rice wine into the cup and sipped at it, but the floral taste was lost to him and he emptied the tiny cup straight way. He poured another, downed it, poured another, downed it until he emptied the flask. Another flask appeared accompanied by Naruto and he kept drinking, listening to his friend without hearing for the first time since their friendship started. Unable and unwilling to listen when Naruto had had it all, even if it had been for a short time. Then Naruto became Inuzaka and Aburame, and their talked had turned to the stories of a younger Hinata that Gaara had never had the opportunity to know. A young Hinata who learned new jutsus through determination, who pushed her body to exhaustion to prove her worth as a Hyūga, and who had died protecting what she believed.

No one talked about how Hinata had died. She hadn’t died in the war, but she had died protecting her friends. She had died because Gaara hadn’t been quick enough. All of them hadn’t been quick enough.

'It hurts doesn't it.’

Gaara frowned up at Tenten who appeared by his table, a slim, glass bottle containing a clear liquid in hand. He blinked and turned back to his empty cup. The outline of the ornate cup blurred at the edges the more he stared at it. Tenten sat down in the empty chair without invitation. She unscrewed the cap and drank straight from the bottle. Wiping her mouth with the back of her hand, she offered the bottle to him.

‘What do you mean?’ He took the bottle and drank, wincing as the alcohol burned like liquid fire down his throat. He coughed and passed the bottle back. 

‘You know what I’m talking about.’ She took out a shuriken and twirled it idly.

Gaara glared at Tenten, anger rose in him like a sudden sand storm, engulfing him with a rage that he hadn’t felt in so many years. He clenched his fist against his knee and willed the swirling maelstrom in his chest to die down.

No one knew.

Not even his siblings.

But somehow his mask had cracked, crumbling like sand and Tenten of all people, had seen through it.

'How can you tell?' he said through clenched teeth.

Tenten shrugged and span the shuriken on a sharp point against the worn tabletop. ‘Just a feeling. Or maybe broken hearts tend to gravitate? Who else do we know who have broken hearts here?’

One particular name came to mind. The only person Hinata had loved. He raised an eyebrow in disapproval at Tenten’s smirk. ‘Shouldn't it be obvious?’

‘But it’s not the same, right?’ Tenten looked over her shoulder to where the other shinobi had gathered.

Gaara hated himself for agreeing, that small part of him that hadn't completely gone away since Shukaku had been extracted from him all those years ago. He had always blamed the darker parts of his mind on the tailed beast, but when the beast had gone, the thoughts remained, lingered and reared its ugly head on the bad days when sleep was harder to fall into. When nightmares plagued his mind instead of dreams.

He thought back on the last exchange he’d had with Hinata. Holed up in the side of a mountain, hidden from the world in a brief, shared moment. The flare of hope for something more, now relegated to a memory. Gaara bit the inside of his cheek hard. The tang of blood burst in his mouth as he remembered what could have been. How Hinata’s hand had slipped from his forever.

Gaara blinked against the burning in his eyes. A question lingered at the tip of his tongue, hesitating to put life into the words. In the end, he asked, ‘Do you ever wish things were different?’

Tenten turned back and glanced away from Gaara quickly, throat bobbing as she swallowed. In a quiet voice, fragile and broken, she said the one thing that Gaara feared.

‘Always.’


	2. Chapter 2

Gaara stared up at the moss covered statue. The statue’s face had been worn away by time, weathered by years of wind and rain until the features became less defined and unrecognisable. Miraculously, the eyes hadn’t and every time Gaara looked at the statue’s pupil-less eyes, his heart ached with a sadness he had never been able to identify the cause of.

It was no different now. And it was no different to the hundreds of other times he had seen it since he had transferred to Konoha. He had stumbled on the statue when he had taken a left instead of a right on his way to his first day of work. It was a relic from the past, hidden and forgotten in a small garden overgrown with trees and plants. He visited the statue when he wanted to be alone, to think without the bustle of the city intruding on him, and when the world seemed a little too big for his small problems. 

The sound of ringing cut through Gaara’s thoughts. He reached into the breast pocket on the inside of his suit and pulled his phone out. ‘What is it, Naruto?’

‘Hey, when are you coming back to the office? There this _huge_ escalation and…’ Naruto’s nervous laughed filtered through the earpiece and Gaara signed, mentally preparing himself for a late night in the office.

‘I’m coming back now. Hold off Tsunade as long as you can.’

‘Aha, yeah, that’s not gonna be possible. See ya!’

Gaara sighed again and pocketed his phone. He should have never agreed to the two-year assignment from Suna to Konoha. Most days, working with Naruto definitely had more cons than pros.

With one last glance at the statue, he made his way along the gravel path, away from the mysterious affect that statue had on him and out of the garden.

***

The elevator chimed as it arrived on the eighth floor. Gaara walked out without looking up from his phone, scrolling through email after email. The dip between his brow deepened the further he went down the email chain. He was going to kill Naruto, after he saved the project.

His heart stopped as he caught sight of navy hair from the corners of his eyes. Gaara turned his head this way and that, an incomprehensible desperation filled him as he searched for the person who had passed him. Walking away from him was a woman with that exact shade of navy, hair styled in an intricate braid that hung over her shoulders. Gaara’s feet moved and his hand reached out, as if his body had a mind of its own, and he caught the woman’s wrist.

The woman jumped at his touch, whirling around to face him, a file of paper clutched to her chest. He let go of her wrist. The touch burned him and his body felt warm and cold all at the same time.

‘I-I’m sorry.’ Gaara stepped back and rubbed the back of his neck, mind clearing and realising that it was not socially acceptable to grab a woman’s wrist to get their attention. Or whatever it was that had happened. It was definitely not acceptable behaviour in a work environment. ‘I don’t know why I did that. I am truly sorry.’

The woman frowned at him, head cocked to the side, and Gaara was captured by the pale, lilac of the woman’s eyes. She bit down on her bottom lip and in nervous gesture, she brushed her hair behind her ear. The feeling of déjà vu swept through Gaara so intensely that he was left breathless.

The woman stepped closer until their shoes were almost toe-to-toe. ‘Have we met before?’

Gaara shook his head, mouth dry, suddenly speechless at hearing the lightness of her voice. ‘No, I would have remembered.’ He groaned as his words registered too late. ‘Sorry, that wasn’t a line.’

The woman laughed lightly, pale cheeks a little pink. ‘I’ll believe you only because you sound so sincere.’

‘Hinata! We’re going to be late!’ The woman - Hinata - jolted at the voice and looked over her shoulder to where Tenten stood outside a large meeting room, tapping her foot impatiently and cradling her baby bump.

‘I wouldn’t keep Tenten waiting for long,’ Gaara warned jokingly, though it really wasn’t a joke. Lee had been late that one time and he hadn’t really recovered since.

Hinata shrugged, a sly smile lifted the corner of her lips. ‘She’s my cousin-in-law. I’ll just threaten to revoke my baby-sitting offer.’

They stood watching each other awkwardly. Gaara at a loss for what to say. Hinata waiting. 

‘Well, I have to go.’ She nodded at the meeting room, fingers playing with her braid. ‘I’ll see you around, I guess.’

Panic gripped Gaara as Hinata walked away again. The tightness in his chest was unbearable. Each breath hurt and all he could think about was that it couldn’t end like this. It felt important, somewhere deep inside him, that he and Hinata did not end their meeting like this.

‘Hinata!’ He ran down the corridor, uncaring of the surprised looks his colleagues gave him at his uncharacteristic behaviour.

‘Yes?’ Hinata turned quickly, eyes wide, he prayed he read right, with a little hope.

Gaara stopped in front of Hinata, gathering his courage. Even if they didn’t know each other, he hoped that this was the right time to ask. ‘Do you want to get a coffee together?’

‘Yes, I would like that.’ Hinata’s shoulders relaxed and she hugged the file in her arms. ‘What’s your name?’

‘I’m Gaara.’

Tears appeared in Hinata’s eyes, though it might have been a trick of light because with a blink, they were gone. Hinata smiled up at Gaara and for the first time in his life, he felt the ache in his chest ebb.

‘It’s nice to meet you, Gaara.’

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This was the closest i’ve written to a happy ending for NejiTen in over 12 years (I still haven’t quite got over Chp. 614 and not really sure I will). Thank you for reading <3


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